When you talk about the best burgers in the Twin Cities you will often hear about Matt’s, The Nook, The 5-8 Club, even the Bulldog and Blue Door Pub. What seems to be off of a lot of lists is Lions Tap. I know it’s been given it’s just do in the past but it seems lately most publications are hitching their wagon to funkier more pretentious burger joints as of late. Maybe it’s their lack of burger options? Maybe it’s their out of the way location? Maybe they don’t offer, what seems to be a Twin Cities must have, a Juicy Lucy? Whatever the reason there are a few of us food lovers who recognize Lions Tap as being one of the best burger joints around.

The Lions Tap uses 80/20 beef in their burgers. Which means it is 80% lean with 20% fat. The high fat content makes for some of the greasiest yet tastiest burgers around. And to be honest even though I was told 80/20, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was 75/25 because these burgers ooze fat like no other, and that’s okay with me. They season their burgers with the “Lions Tap Famous Seasoning” which you can purchase if you like. I have never bought any, afraid that if it makes my homemade burgers taste just as good I will soon be on the TV show ,Help Save My One Ton Son, which would only be cool if Richard Simmons came to my house and I could bury my head into his super fluffy hair a weep about my hugeness. I’m not gay, but touching Richard Simmon’s hair is on my life’s to-do list. That and holding a baby monkey.

Back on topic…I went with the double bacon cheese burger. Lions Tap cooks all of their burgers to medium (pink in the center) unless told otherwise. The bacon, American cheese, famous seasoning, and high fat content all come together to form one of the best burgers I have ever tasted. It is extremely salty and if you’re anything like me, that’s a good thing. The fries are crinkle cut and barely worth mentioning. Do yourself a favor and just get another burger and leave the fries for the kiddies to fill up on.

Overall, Lions Tap serves one hell of a good burger…and that’s the bottom line because the Food Bros said so! *Stone Cold Steve Austin Voice

Disclaimer: After we leave a restaurant we do our reviews independent of each other and do not read the others until they are going to be posted. So there may be some repeated themes/ideas in our reviews.

Brad:

The Food Bros have been going to Lions Tap for a long time for its great no-nonsense juicy burgers and it seems whenever I bring it up in a conversation with people, they either love it or hate it. Even before I wrote this I went on urbanspoon.com and looked at other peoples reviews and I am stunned by all the hate. So what is it people? They don’t have brie or a soft boiled egg with foie gras and crème fraiche? Is that it? Do you really need all that crap to ever enjoy a burger? I sure don’t, I want to taste beef, fresh ground juicy damn beef. Who’s with me?

Don’t get me wrong I have tried and enjoyed many different types of burgers but what is wrong with the basics especially when they are done so right as Lions Tap has done for years. I always get a double cheese burger with fried onions. Sure its $7 but where can you really go now and get a quality burger for less anymore? Sorry people but prices go up, try going and buy a pound of beef anymore for less than $4 or $5 if you can it’s probably old and I wouldn’t want to eat it. I thoroughly enjoy my burger here each and every time; its juicy, cooked perfectly medium, the seasoning is amazing, the cheese is melty and plentiful and the onions are fried perfectly. C’mon now people what is wrong with you that you can’t enjoy this?

Ok I admit the fries here are nothing but a distraction or just can be used to catch all the juicy goodness leaving your burger as you eat but they don’t bother me at all. After we were done eating we noticed the have their own beers now also, a little checking found they are brewed in Minnesota by Cold Spring Brewery just for them, so next time I will definitely be trying one out.

Lions Tap holds a spot in my top burgers and I don’t see it leaving anytime soon. So get over all the hate and pretentiousness going on right now and just go enjoy a great damn burger.